Ryan-Mark Parsons bombarded with 'sickening' death threats after GMB vaccine row

Ryan-Mark Parsons says he has received “revolting” death threats following his controversial interview on Thursday’s Good Morning Britain.

The youngest ever Apprentice candidate and Daily Star columnist appeared on the show via video link to chat about under-30s getting the Covid-19 vaccine – and insisted that those who opt not to don’t deserve “civil liberties” such as going to restaurants or on holiday.

Ryan-Mark elaborated that he has cut all contact with friends who refuse it, branding them “dead wood”.

He debated social commentator Joanne Jarjue, who insisted freedoms should not be taken away from those who decide not to take the jab.

But now he has faced the brunt of a social media storm from many anti-vaxxers.

“It seems to be a mixture, really. There are specific attacks about certain things I was saying during the segment, for example the restrictions of freedoms based on vaccination, but also general anti-vax abuse, just for advocating for under-30s to get the vaccine,” he told Daily Star.

“I’ve had people tell me ‘You can never walk the streets of London without security’, and ‘I hope they’re paying for 24/7 security’. I’ve never had that before.” Ryan-Mark admitted.

“One person left a comment that said ‘Urgh, what a vile waste of oxygen. People like this deserve to rot in hell’. And in her bio it says, ‘In a world where you can be anything, be kind.’

“You get all of these people saying ‘Be kind’, etcetera, but as soon as they don’t like someone or an idea, they’ll be abusive as anything. It’s crazy,” he continued.

Ryan-Mark reflected on a segment he’d appeared on for GMB in the past, which he’d thought was controversial at the time.

During a debate about whether it was okay to use skins from already-dead koalas to help other animals, Ryan-Mark agreed that it was a good cause, and saw no harm.

“I thought that was bad, because it was international,” he explained. “I was getting a lot of abuse from Australia, so I’m kind of used to this.”

His time as a candidate on The Apprentice also steeled him for these kinds of online trolls.

“Looking back on it, you’d have millions of people watching every Wednesday, and then on Twitter you’d get thousands of tweets every single Wednesday. So I think from there I built an immunity to it. It doesn’t really affect me.”

And he isn’t going to be frightened away from GMB appearances in the future, either.

“GMB is a great platform to get your views across, so I guess this is standard, really. Dr Hillary?? gets abuse all the time just for supporting the science.

“It wouldn’t scare me from going on again. If I refused because of the reaction, I would say that’s giving [the trolls] a victory, which I don’t want to do.”

Despite the controversy, Ryan-Mark also received an abundance of support, including from Lord Sugar.

And Apprentice candidate Thomas Skinner, who appeared in series 15 alongside Ryan-Mark, tweeted a message of support – but had to quickly delete it.

“He put out a really supportive tweet, and then he deleted it because he got bombarded with anti-vaxxers. But I’ve had a lot of emails and private messages, and a video I posted on TikTok got 35,000 views and 600 comments, and the majority were very supportive.

“I’d say definitely in terms of young people, they’re very supportive.”

Ryan-Mark admits that though he’s “very vocal and forthright and opinionated”, death threats are a step too far.

“If you’re sending death threats and that level of abuse, it’s completely reprehensible, and you deserve to face the brunt of the law if you’re going to threaten to kill someone, which I’ve had.

“So to those people, you are completely and utterly sickening.”

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk